GB1601960A - Coupler for toy and model railway cars - Google Patents

Description

PATENT SPECIFICATION

( 11) ( 21) Application No 28140/80 ( 22) Filed 28 Dec 1977 ( 19) O ( 62) Divided out of No 1 601 959 4 ( 31) Convention Application No 52/121 655 ( 32) Filed 11 Oct 1977 in m ( 33) Japan (JP) O ( 44) Complete Specification published 4 Nov 1981 ( 51) INT CL $ A 63 H 19/18 ( 52) Index at acceptance A 65 19 D 2 ( 54) COUPLER FOR TOY AND MODEL RAILWAY CARS ( 71) We, TOMY KOGYO Co, INC, a Japanese Company of, No 9-10 Tateishi 7-chome, Katsushika-ku, Tokyo, Japan, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and

by the following statement:-

The present invention relates to improved coupler mechanisms for coupling and uncoupling toy and model railway cars, or the like, and, more particularly, to couplers utilizing the principles of like magnetic poles attracting and unlike poles repelling as a means for effecting smooth and reliable coupling and uncoupling between cars.

In particular, the present invention provides couplers for toy and model railway cars having means by which a car may be pushed by an adjacent car without being coupled thereto to a predetermined location, and left by the pushing car without any unintentional recoupling.

The present application is a Divisional of British Patent Application No 53945/77 (Serial No 1601959) which provides couplers for toy and model railway cars having means by which adjacent coupled cars will not be unintentionally uncoupled during the normal running mode when the cars are pulled over an uncoupling magnet located in the trackway.

The coupler of the present invention permits toy and model railway cars to be pushed to selected locations, such as a siding, shunted, and the like by remote control therebv resulting in increased enjoyment for the user.

The construction and operation of toy and model railway cars is a worldwide hobby of significant economic consequence.

Model railway cars utilize coupling mechanisms located at the ends of each car to effect the coupling and uncoupling of adjacent cars Ordinary coupling mechanisms have been characterized by troublesome and unreliable operation giving rise to a need, especially with regard to the smaller scale model railway couplers, for a simple, inexpensive coupler which can be controlled in a remote manner to provide reliable coupling and uncoupling.

One widely used coupling mechanism is the so-called "Arnold-type" shown in FIGS 55 1 and 2, of the accompanying drawings, and generally referred to therein by the reference character 10 The coupler 10 includes a conventional "C"shaped coupler knuckle 11 secured to an end of a support shaft 12, and 60 a flange 13 formed at and extending laterally outward of the other end of the shaft 12 The knuckle 11 includes a triangular formation 19 at its forward end having upper and lower inclined ramp surfaces The 65 flange end of the support shaft 12 is pivotably retained in a pocket 21 formed in a support means 15 secured to the end of the car 14 (broken lines illustration) The flange 13 is resiliently urged by a helical spring 70 coil 17, in compression, against a forward inner wall 18 of the support means 15 The knuckle 11 is mounted so that it may pivot in a vertical plane between a lower position substantially parallel to a trackway 20 and 75 an upper portion (FIG 2) with the spring 17 resiliently urging the knuckle 11 to the lower position In order to couple adjacent cars together, the cars are thrust toward one another causing one of the two knuckles 80 to ride upwardly on the upper inclined ramp surface of the other knuckle In the case shown in FIG 2, the knuckle 11 is forced to its upper position by the upper inclined ramp surface of the complementary knuckle 85 111 The upwardly pivoted knuckle 11 then clears the horizontally aligned knuckle 111 and is resiliently urged by the spring 17 to the lower position to couple with the knuckle 111 The cars may be readily uncoupled by 90 providing a depending pin, 16 and 161, on each knuckle, 11 and Il, and an uncoupling means 22 which may be selectively caused to project or extend upwardly from the trackway 20 to contact one of the de 95 pending pins to force the associated knuckle to its upper position to disengage the knuckles 11 and 111 and thereby uncouple the cars.

There are a number of disadvantages 100 associated with the above described coupler.

The spring 17 can twist and thereby dimi1 601960 1,61,9602 nish the ability of the spring 17 to maintain the knuckles 11 and 11 i in their normal positions In addition, cases can arise where the spring 17 provides an excessive force, making coupling action uncertain Also, when adjacent coupled cars are uncoupled, it is necessary to precisely control the running and stopping of the cars along the trackway so that the uncoupling means 22 may properly cooperate with the depending pins to effect the uncoupling This precise running and stopping operation is difficult to achieve in the case of the smaller scale model railway cars and has greatly reduced the uncoupling reliability As can be appreciated, the above described disadvantages reduce the recreational enjoyment one may derive from the operation of toy and model railway cars.

Other prior art coupler mechanisms are known which employ permanent magnets to assist in the uncoupling function In these coupling mechanisms, insufficient consideration has been given to the location of the magnets, the alignment and utilization of the magnetic lines of force, and the support means An example of one such coupler mechanism is disclosed in U S patent 3,840,127 to Edwards in which magnetic repulsion is used during the uncoupling operation A permanent magnet is affixed to the knuckle of a conventional coupler to provide a means for magnetically uncoupling the cars The magnet is aligned on the knuckle with the polar axis along the vertical and with one pole facing downward toward the trackway A selectively actuatable uncoupling electromagnet is located beneath the trackway with a like pole on the trackway facing upwardly toward the downwardly facing pole of the knuckle magnet.

The cars are coupled as described above for the "Arnold-type" coupler and may be uncoupled by selectively energizing the uncoupling electromagnet to cause a resultant magnetic repulsion between the like poles of the uncoupling and knuckle magnets to pivot the knuckle to its upper position and thereby effect uncoupling.

Because of the vertical alignment of the maanets the magnetic lines of forces are directed generally vertically upward at the center of the maqnet upward and inclining to the left on the left-hand portion of the magnet, and upward and inclining to the right on the right-hand portion of the magnet When the coupling memrber is urged to its upward position as a result of the repulsion between the two magnets, both the direction and magnitude of the resultant magnetic force varies as the coupler pivots upwardly Thus the force driving the coupler upward differs depending upon its relative position with respect to the uncoupling magnet This force variation makes smooth and reliable upward pivoting of the coupling member, and, consequently, uncoupling uncertain.

In another type of prior art coupler, a permanent uncoupling magnet, rather than 70 a selectively actuatable electromagnet, is located in the trackway to cooperate with a permanent magnet mounted on the pivotable coupler member Cars may be uncoupled by stopping them within the effective range of 75 the uncoupling magnet, which then co-acts with at least one pole of the coupler magnet to pivot the coupler member upward to effect the uncoupling A disadvantage of this type of coupler, resulting from the permanent 80 nature of the uncoupling magnet's field, is that cars may be unintentionally uncoupled when they are driven over the uncoupling permanent magnet during the normal running mode As can be appreciated, this 85 undesired uncoupling reduces the recreational enjoyment one may derive from the operation of toy and model railway cars.

From the practical standpoint, it is often desirable to perform the delayed uncoup 90 ling operation in which two adjacent cars are uncoupled by a trackway magnet and one of the cars used to push the other, uncoupled car, to a selected track location, such as a siding or the like The pushing 95 car is then separated from the driven car without recoupling In the known prior art couplers, there are no means for effecting the delayed uncoupling operation in a simple, convenient, and reliable manner 100 It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved coupler mechanism for toy and model railway cars which overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art, in which coupling, normal running, uncoupling, 105 the pushing to and leaving of cars at a selected location, car shunting, and the like can be performed easily and reliably and within the fundamental forward reverse and speed control performance ranges of toy and 110 model railway cars.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a coupler mechanism having means by which a car may be pushed or driven by another car without being coupled 115 thereto, and then left at a selected track location without recoupling to the pushing car.

According to the present invention, we provide a coupler for toy and model railway 120 cars comprising a coupler knuckle on one car adapted to interlock with a complementary knuckle on an adjacent car, the knuckle including a shaft carried by support means secured to the end of the one car and ad 125 apted to pivotally support the knuckle about a substantially lateral axis for movement between a lower position for coupling with the complementary knuckle and an upper position for uncoupling from the complementary 130 3 1,601,960 3 knuckle, and having means for resiliently urging to knuckle to the lower position, the knuckle acting for uncoupling action in combination with an uncoupling magnet on the trackway, the shaft having an inclined ramp surface on its lower side, the surface being adapted to over-ride the fore end of a complementary knuckle on an adjacent car when the knuckle is in the upper position, to enable the one car to push the adjacent car to a selected track location and then to separate from and leave the adjacent care without recoupling.

Preferably, the means for resiliently urging the knuckle to the lower position is magnetic and comprises a first permanent magnet secured to the knuckle and a second permanent magnet secured to the support means, the magnets being in end to end relationship with unlike poles mutually facing and aligned, when the coupler knuckle is in the lower position, substantially parallel to the trackway, the polarity of the uncoupling magnet being such that the knuckle is urged by the uncoupling magnet towards the upper position We prefer that the uncoupling magnet has a pole on the trackway which is unlike the pole of the first permanent magnet which pole faces the second permanent magnet.

The poles of the first permanent magnet may be located on the same side of the pivotal axis of the knuckle or they may be located respectively on opposite sides of the pivotal axis to create a torque couple The poles may be located respectively at remote ends of the knuckle, to increase the moment of the torque.

In use, the magnet attraction between the unlike mutually-facing poles of the first and second permanent magnets will tend to urge the knuckle to the lower position and this tendency is overcome when the first permanent magnet is within the magnetic field of the uncoupling magnet by attraction and/or repulsion between the uncoupling magnet and one or both poles of the first permanent magnet, the inclined ramp surface of the shaft then being capable of over-riding the fore end of a complementary knuckle on an adjacent car when the one car is pushed towards the adjacent car, pushing being continued to move the cars together in the same direction, the knuckles meanwhile being thereby prevented from recoupling, the cars separating from each other without recoupling when the one car, having pushed the adjacent car to a selected track location, is moved away in the opposite direction.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:Figure 1 is a plan view, in partial cross section, of a conventional coupler mech 65 anism; Figure 2 is a side elevation view of the coupler shown in Figure 1 with a coupler knuckle shown in an upper position and selected portions shown in broken line illus 70 tration; Figure 3 is a side elevation view of a model railway car having a coupler embodying the present invention secured thereto with the coupler knuckle shown in the upper 75 position; Figure 4 a is a plan view, in partial cross section, of the coupler shown in Figure 3; Figure 4 b is a perspective view of the coupler shown in Figure 4 a with selected 80 portions shown in broken line illustration; Figure 4 c is a perspective view of another coupler embodying the present invention, shown with the coupler knuckle in the upper position; 85 Figure 5 is a plan view, in partial cross section, of a variation of the coupler shown in Figure 4 a; Figure 6 is a plan view, in partial cross section, of another variation of the coupler 90 shown in Figure 4 a; and Figure 7 is a partial side elevation view of a model railway car, with the coupler knuckle shown in the upper position and with another knuckle engaging an inclined 95 surface of the raised knuckle.

Referring to FIGS 3, 4 a and 4/, the reference character 31 denotes in general a coupler of the present invention mounted at the end portion of a model railway car 30, 100 such as a locomotive or engine or a car coupled to an engine or locomotive The car 30, in response to remote control signals, may be operated at varying speeds in the forward and reverse directions, and is ad 105 apted to pull one or more cars coupled together in a normal forward running mode as well as push one or more cars The coupler 31 is formed generally along a longituidinal axis 29 and includes a "C" shaped 110 coupler knuckle 32 secured to one end of a support shaft 33 The knuckle 32, which is adapted to engage or mesh with a complementary knuckle 321 on an adjacent car (not shown), includes a triangular formation 42 115 having inclined upper and lower ramp surfaces, 27 and 28, intersecting at an edge 26 at the fore end of the coupler 31 A rectangular flange 34 is formed at and extends laterally outward of the other end, that is, 120 the rear end, of the support shaft 33.

A projection 42 a is formed on the inner lower side portion of the formation 42 and is directed toward the rear end of the coupler 31 This projection functions, as des 125 cribed below, to prevent a trackway mounted uncoupling permanent magnet from unintentionally causing a coupler 31 to pivot to its upper position to uncouple adjacent cars 1,601,960 1,601,960 when the cars are being pulled over the uncoupling magnet by the car 30 during the normal running mode, and forms the subject of our British Patent Application No.

53945/77 (Serial No 1601959).

In accordance with the present invention, the coupler 31 includes an inclined ramp surface 33 a formed on the lower side of the support shaft 33 The ramp surface 33 a is adapted, as described below, to contact the fore end of a complementary coupler knuckle 321 when the coupler 31 is in its upper position to permit the car 30 to push the adjacent car without being coupled thereto, and then to separate from and leave the adjacent car without recoupling As shown in FIG 7, the ramp surface 33 a becomes substantially horizontal (that is, substantially parallel to the trackway 40) when it is engaging the fore end of the adjacent coupler knuckle 321 to permit the car 30 to push the adjacent car.

The coupler 31 is pivotally retained at its flange end in a pocket 38 (FIGS 4 a and 4 b) of a support structure 25 having open front and upper positions and having spaced apart vertical end walls 37 and 371 The coupler 31 and its knuckle 32 are pivotally supported for movement between a lower position substantially parallel to a trackway 40 and an upper position (FIG 3).

A permanent magnet 35, preferably in the form of a bar magnet having a rectangular or circular cross section, is secured to the flange end of the support shaft 33 with its polar axis preferably coincident with the longitudinal axis 29 of the coupler 31 and with one of its poles 49 facing outwardly and to the rear of the coupler 31 along the longitudinal axis 29.

A second permanent magnet 39, preferably having the same general shape as the magnet 35, is secured to the support structure 25 with one of its poles 51 facing towards the outwardly facing rear pole 49 of the magnet The magnet 39 is stationary with respect to the magnet 35 and is preferably located on the support structure 25 such that its polar axis is substantially coincident with the longitudinal axis 29 of the coupler 31 when the coupler 31 is in its lower position.

The magnets 35 and 39 are so oriented that unlike poles face toward one another.

In the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS 3 and 4 a, the rear pole 49 of the magnet 35 is a south pole and the pole 51 of the magnet 39 is a north pole The magnetic attraction that results between the unlike poles of the magnets 35 and 39 causes the flange end of the shaft 33 to be resiliently urged against the end walls 37 and 371 to thereby cause the knuckle 32 to be resiliently urged to its lower position As can be appreciated, the reverse pole arrangement for the magnets 35 and 39 is equally satisfactory.

Cars utilizing the structure described above may be coupled together by thrusting the cars toward one another as shown in FIG 3 One of the knuckles, for example knuckle 32, is driven upward on the upper 70 inclined ramp 271 of the complementary knuckle 321 to its upper position and is then resiliently urged by the magnetic attraction force between the magnets 35 and 39 to its lower position to thereby couple the cars 75 The cars may be uncoupled by means of an uncoupling magnet 41 (FIG 3), which is preferably a permanent magnet but which may also take the form of a selectively actuatable electromagnet, mounted beneath 80 the trackway 40 The uncoupling magnet 41 is preferably mounted such that its polar axis is vertically aligned with one of its poles 24 located on the trackway 40 facing upwardly toward the outwardly facing pole 85 49 of the magnet 35 The uncoupling magnet 41 is so oriented that the pole 24 is unlike the outwardly facing pole 49 of the magnet and produces a substantially stronger magnetic field, that is, a substantially greater 90 magnetic flux, than the magnet 39 In the preferred embodiment shown in FIG 3, the pole 24 is a north pole When it is desired to uncouple cars, they are positioned over the uncoupling magnet 41 The north pole 95 24 attracts the outwardly facing south pole 49 and repels the north pole 52 of the magnet 35 to generate a force at the flange end of the coupler 31 which torques the coupler 31 upward to its upper position as shown in 100 FIG 3 to thereby uncouple the cars.

Another embodiment of the coupler is shown in FIG 4 c in which a coupler member 36 has a boxlike receptacle 43 formed at the rear end of the support shaft 33 and 105 into which the magnet 35 is inserted Shaftlike projections 44 extend laterally outward from each side of the receptacle 43 along a lateral axis 50 and are received in bearing bores 46 formed in the side walls of the sup 110 port 45 Each bore 46 is preferably enlarged horizontally, that is, elongated to define horizontal slots, the length of which is substantially larger than the diameter of the projections 44 The elongated bores 46 permit 115 limited lateral pivoting of the knuckle 32 in a plane passing through the lateral axis 50.

An upper wall 47 of the receptacle 43 is adapted to contact a ceiling 48 of the support 45 to limit the downward pivoting of 120 the coupler 31 The embodiment of FIG 4 c permits the coupler 31 to pivot between its lower and upper positions in a smooth uniform manner when compared to the embodiment utilizing the aforementioned pivoting 125 flange structure.

In the embodiments described above, both poles of the magnet 35 are located on one side of the lateral pivoting axis of the coupler 36 During the uncoupling operation, the 130 1,601,960 outwardly facing south pole 49 of the magnet 35 is attracted to the north pole 24 of the uncoupling magnet 41 to provide a torque to pivot the knuckle 32 to its upper position, and the north pole 52 of the magnet 35 is repelled by the north pole 24 to provide a counter torque to pivot the coupler downward to its lower position Since the north pole 52 of the magnet 35 is closer to the pivoting axis, the counter torque produced by the repulsion force between the poles 52 and 24 is small and can be considered negligible.

As shown in FIGS 5 and 6, it is readily possible to increase upward pivoting torque acting on the coupler by positioning one pole of the magnet 35 on one side of the pivoting axis and the other pole on the other side of the pivoting axis In FIG 5 the support shaft 33 is formed as a magnetic member with the pole 49, the south pole, facing outwardly toward the magnet 39 and the other pole 52, the north pole, at the other end of the support shaft 33, contiguous with the knuckle 32 This embodiment may be fabricated by forming the support shaft 33 from a ferro-magnetic material or affixing a bar magnet to a support shaft 33 fabricated from a nonmagnetic material The embodiment shown in FIG 6 is similar to that shown in FIG 5, except that north pole 52 is located at the fore end of the knuckle 32 This embodiment may be fabricated by forming the entire knuckle 32 and the support shaft 33 as a unitary structure from a ferro-magnetic material As can be appreciated, the attraction/repulsion force couple which results when the poles are located on opposite sides of the pivoting axis is greater than that of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS 3, 4 a, 4 b, and 4 c.

Toy and model railway cars utilizing the embodiments of the present invention descri'bed above may be coupled together by thrusting or driving the cars towards one another in a manner similar to that described for the conventional "Arnold-type" coupler mechanism Initially, the coupler knuckles 32 and 321 are maintained in a horizontal position, that is, substantially parallel to the trackway, by the mutual attraction between the permanent magnet 35 at the rear end of each coupler member 36 and the respective stationary permanent magnet 39 When the "C" shaped coupler knucklers 32 and 321 contact each other, one of the knuckles, for example, knuckle 32, will ride up onto the upper ramp 27 ' of the horizontal knuckle 321 until it clears the knuckle 321 and then is resiliently urged by the magnetic attraction between the magnets 35 and 39 to its lower position to thereby couple the cars The use of magnetic attraction to urge the knuckle 32 to the lower position results in the smooth and rapid returning of the knuckle 32 to its lower position and provides long term coupling reliability.

When a coupler mechanism of the type illustrated in FIGS 3-4 b is in a normal 70 coupled state with another coupler, the magnetic attraction which occurs between the rear pole 49 (south pole) of the permanent magnet 35 and the fore pole 51 (north pole) of the stationary magnet 39 urges the flange 75 34 against the vertical end walls 37 and 371 of the pocket 38 to maintain the C-shaped coupler 32 in the horizontal position In order to effect uncoupling, the cars are moved to position the coupler 31 above and 80 within the effective range of the uncoupling magnet 41 such that the permanent magnet is influenced by the magnetic field arising from the uncoupling magnet 41 The rear pole 49 (south pole) of the permanent mag 85 net 35 is attracted by the unlike upper pole 24 (north pole) of the magnet 41 to cause the flange 34 to pivot in a clockwise direction (in FIG 3) in the pocket 38, which contains sufficient clearance to accomodate the 90 pivoting flange 34 The C-shaped coupler knuckle 32 pivots to its upper position thereby disengaging from the adjacent complementary C-shaped coupler knuckle 321.

When the uncoupled car 30 is moved out 95 of the effective range of the magnetic field of the uncoupling magnet 41, the permanent magnet 35 is again attracted by the stationary permanent magnet 39, to urge the knuckle 32 towards its lower horizontal position 100 When a coupler mechanism of the type illustrated in 'FIG 4 c is in a normal coupled state with another coupler, the rear pole 49 of the permanent magnet 35 is attracted by the fore pole 51 of the stationary permanent 105 magnet 39 to urge the coupler 32 to the lower horizontal position and to cause the upper surface 47 of the receptacle 43 to contact the ceiling 48 of the support 45 In order to effect uncoupling the coupled cars 110 are moved to position the coupler 36 above and within the effective range of the uncoupling magnet 41 such that the permanent magnet 35 is influenced by the magnetic field arising from the uncoupling magnet 41 115

The rear pole 49 of the permanent magnet is attracted by the north pole of the magnet 41, thereby causing the coupler member 36 to pivot in a clockwise direction about its axis 50 and causing the projections 44 120 to rotate in their bearing bores 46 The coupler knuckle 32 is rotated to its upper position to thereby effect uncoupling After the uncoupled car 36 is moved out of the effective range of the magnetic field of the 125 uncoupling magnet 41, the pole 49 of the permanent magnet 35 is again attracted by the pole 51 of the magnet 39 to resiliently urge the coupler 32 to its horizontal or lower position and cause the upper surface 47 of 130 S 1,601,960 the receptacle 43 to again contact the ceiling 48 of the support structure 45 The embodiment of FIG 4 c permits the coupler 36 to pivot between its lower and upper positions in a smooth uniform manner with a minimum of twisting motion and provides for a more reliable and stable horizontal position of the knuckle 32 when compared to the embodiment utilizing the aforementioned pivoting flange structure.

The coupling function of the embodiments illustrated in FIGS 5 and 6 are similar to that described above for the embodiments of FIGS 3-4 c The pole 39 of the permanent magnet 35 is attracted to the pole 41 of the magnet 39 to resiliently urge the coupler knuckle 32 towards the lower position When the coupled cars are moved into the effective range of the magnetic field of the uncoupling magnet 41, the rear pole 49 (south pole) is attracted by the north pole 24 of the uncoupling magnet 41 and, concurrently therewith, the fore pole 52 (north pole) is repelled As a result of this attraction/repulsion interaction between the magnets 35 and 41, a torque arises to cause the coupling member 36 to pivot to its upper position Because the poles of the coupler magnet 35 are located on opposite sides of the lateral pivoting axis, the torque applied to the coupling member 36 is about twice as large as the torque applied to the above described coupler structures In addition, the torque applied to the coupling member 36 of the embodiment of FIG 6 is larger than that of the embodiment of FIG 5 because of the additional distance between the fore end north pole 52 and the pivoting axis.

Consequently, relatively large torques can be applied to the pivotable coupling member 36 by the uncoupling magnet 41 when the poles of the coupling member magnet are on opposite sides of the lateral pivoting axis Convenient and reliable disengaging can thus be obtained even if there are forces, such as frictional forces, which resist the uncoupling torque.

The inclined ramp surface 33 a, which is provided on the underside of the shaft 33, is provided to allow a car to push another, uncoupled car to a selected location and then separate from and leave the other car without recoupling As shown in FIG 7, two adjacent coupled cars are driven over the uncoupling magnet 41 such that the couplermember 36 is within the effective range of the magnet 41 The car 30 is driven a small distance toward the adjacent car in the direction of the arrow 55 The projection 42 a disengages from and releases the triangular formation 421 allowing the coupling member 36 to move to its upper uncoupled position as shown in FIG 7 The uncoupled car may then be used to push the adiacent car by moving the car 30 still further in the direction of the arrow 55 toward the uncoupled adjacent car causing the coupler knuckle 321 to come into contact with and move beneath the inclined ramp surface 33 a of the raised coupler 32 This contact urges 70 the coupler 321 downward somewhat and causes its fore edge 261 to contact the receptacle 43 and align the inclined ramp surface 33 a parallel to the longitudinal axis of the car With the care so engaged, the car 30 75 may then be operated to push, as distinquished from pull, the adjacent car in the direction of the arrow 55 to a selected track area, as for example a siding As can be seen, the coupler of the present invention 80 allows uncoupled cars to be pushed with a high degree of certainty The cars are then stopped when they have been moved to the selected track area In order to separate the car 30 from the other car, the car 30 is 85 driven in the direction opposite to that of the arrow 55 The inclined ramp surface 33 a slides on the upper surface of the triangular formation 421 of the coupler 321 As the cars separate, a portion 33 b of the inclined 90 ramp surface 33 a contacts the inclined surface 271 of the coupler buckle 32 to maintain the coupler knuckle 32 in its upper uncoupled position The relative position of the couplers 32 and 321 is such that they cannot 95 re-engage, permitting the car 30 to completely separate from the other car without recoupling Thus the inclined ramp surface 33 a permits an uncoupled car to push and leave another car at a predetermined track 100 location without being recoupled to the car.

In the embodiment shown in FIG 7, the coupler knuckle 321 of the adjacent car is resiliently supported on spring means or the like to thereby permit the coupler 321 to 105 tile or move downward somewhat when it is engaged by the coupler 32 of the car 30 As is apparent, the present invention may also be used in those cases where the coupler is not permitted to tilt downwardly, in which 110 case the coupler knuckle 321 will not be moved downward when engaged with the coupler 32 of the car 30.

As is apparent from the above described embodiments, the present invention provides 115 a number of advantages which greatly enhance the enjoyment and value to be derived from toy and model railway cars The inclined ramp surface 33 a on the lower side of the support shaft provides a means by 120 which a car may be pushed by another car without being coupled thereto and then separated from and left at a selected location, such as a siding, without recoupling to the pushing car This latter feature is especially 125 advantageous in that it prevents cars from being recoupled to each other during delayed uncoupling operations.

The various railway type operations, which can be performed by an engine, such as 130 1,601,960 coupling, normal running, uncoupling, the pushing to and leaving of cars at a preselected location, car shunting, and the like, can be performed easily and reliably and within the fundamental forward/reverse and speed control performance ranges of toy and model railway cars.

While the coupler of the present invention has been described with reference to the accompanying drawings in combination with couplers utilizing magnets, it is readily apparent that the present invention may also be utilized with conventional "Arnold-type" couplers which utilize a spring to urge the coupler to the lower position These couplers may be modified in accordance with the present invention without any substantial changes in their shape and structure to greatly improve their performance as described above In addition, the coupler of the present invention can be used in combination with other conventional couplers and provide the advantages described.

Claims (8)

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1 A coupler for toy and model railway cars comprising a coupler knuckle on one car adapted to interlock with a complementary knuckle on an adjacent car, the knuckle including a shaft carried by support means secured to the end of the one car and adapted to pivotally support the knuckle about a substantially lateral axis for movement between a lower position for coupling with the complementary knuckle and an upper position for uncoupling from the complementary knuckle, and having means for resiliently urging to knuckle to the lower position, the knuckle acting for uncoupling action in combination with an uncoupling magnet on the trackway, the shaft having an inclined ramp surface on its lower side, the surface being adapted to over-ride the fore end of a complementary knuckle on an adjacent car when the knuckle is in the upper position, to enable the one car to push the adjacent car to a selected track location and then to separate from and leave the adjacent car without recoupling.

2 A coupler according to claim 1 in 50 which the means for resiliently urging the knuckle to the lower position is magnetic.

3 A coupler according to claim 2 in which a first permanent magnet is secured to the knuckle and a second permanent magnet 55 is secured to the support means, the magnets being in end to end relationship with unlike poles mutually facing and aligned, when the coupler knuckle is in the lower position, substantially parallel to the trackway, the 60 polarity of the uncoupling magnet being such that the knuckle is urged by the uncoupling magnet towards the upper position.

4 A coupler according to claim 3 in which the uncoupling magnet has a pole on 65 the trackway which is unlike the pole of the first permanent magnet which pole faces the second permanent magnet.

A coupler according to claim 3 in which the poles of the first permanent mag 70 net are located on the same side of the pivotal axis of the knuckle.

6 A coupler according to claim 3 in which the poles of the first permanent mnagnet are located respectively on opposite sides 75 of the pivotal axis of the knuckle.

7 A coupler according to any preceding claim wherein the knuckle has a lateral axis with bearing shafts extending laterally outward of the said knuckle along the lateral 80 axis and the support means has bores formed therein to pivotally receive the bearing shafts.

8 A coupler according to claim 7 wherein the support means is adapted to support the said knuckle for lateral pivoting 85 9 A coupler according to claim 8 wherein the support means bores are elongated in the horizontal direction to accommodate the lateral pivoting.

A coupler according to claim 1 90 wherein the uncoupling magnet comprises a permanent magnet.

WITHERS & ROGERS, Chartered Patent Agents, 4, Dyer's Building, Holborn, London EC 1 N 2 JT.

Agents for the Applicants.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon), Ltd -1981.

Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC 2 A l AY from which copies may be obtained.